Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #10614

Re: Help System recommendation

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From	"John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject	Re: Help System recommendation
Date	Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:37:53 -0500
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In article <Xns9FB563746CF5Ejpnasty@94.75.214.39>,
 Novice <novice@example..com> wrote:

> [...] 
> So, what are people using these days? 
> 
> I'm seeing more and more cases where clicking on Help in an 
> application menu brings the user to a website rather than windows on 
> their desktops. Is it fair to say that's the preferred approach these 
> days? If so, can anyone point me to information about how people are 
> invoking those web-based help systems, preferably with examples that 
> illustrate the technique? 
> 
> I'm already very familiar with web design, HTML, CSS, etc. I'm just 
> unsure about what code goes into the application to direct the user 
> of a desktop application to the website. Basically, I just need the 
> code that gets executed in the application once the mouse click is 
> detected and it is determined that it was Help which was clicked. I 
> can build the website easily enough myself.
> 
> I'm also curious to know about preferred tools for building help 
> systems that don't need an internet connection. In those cases, the 
> application itself needs to display help screens without recourse to 
> the web.

java.awt.Desktop, new in 1.6, is useful in both cases: browse() can 
accept a URI that references either a local or remote resource. 
Conveniently, it also leverages the user's chosen desktop browser.

The older javax.swing.JEditorPane is convenient, but it's limited to 
HTML 3.2 with a few extensions. There's an example here:

<http://robotchase.sourceforge.net/>

-- 
John B. Matthews
trashgod at gmail dot com
<http://sites.google.com/site/drjohnbmatthews>

Thread

Help System recommendation Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-12-08 14:45 +0000
  Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-08 20:37 -0500
    Re: Help System recommendation Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-12-09 05:24 +0000
      Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-09 12:05 -0500
        Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-09 10:25 -0800
          Re: Help System recommendation "John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2011-12-09 22:31 -0500
  Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-09 06:30 -0800
    Re: Help System recommendation Fredrik Jonson <fredrik@jonson.org> - 2011-12-11 16:03 +0000
      Re: Help System recommendation Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-12-12 03:36 -0800
  Re: Help System recommendation Jim Janney <jjanney@shell.xmission.com> - 2011-12-22 11:27 -0700

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